Trick or Treat!

Nicholas was his favorite superhero for Halloween, a fireman!  I crafted a fire truck out of a cardboard box which he gladly wore (and even added his own siren for effect!).  In the morning, we went trick or treating on Chestnut Street, where the local merchants line the sidewalks with bowls of candy and hundreds of toddlers march along gathering their goodies.  While the morning activity was certainly enough to fulfill any Halloween needs of a 2 year old, I wanted Nicholas to get the nighttime experience too.  So we went to nearby Sea Cliff and went to a dozen or so houses....most of which were on hills and had quite a few stairs, which is hard enough for a little kid, let alone one wearing a box!

Nicholas had the opportunity to show some real fireman his costume and he got scared!

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Oh for Pete's Sake.

I had a scan last week which has revealed a couple new areas of disease in my chest and neck.  This is a real bummer.  I'll be going back on Brentuximab (aka SGN 35, Adcetris) infusions which I had prior to and post transplant.  I responded well to the drug after transplant before (my residual disease disappeared prior to the graft really completely taking effect), so there is no reason to think that won't happen again.  The infusions are every 3 weeks for about 45 minutes (which means about a 3 hour office visit), and the side effects are very minimal -- I'll probably experience some neuropathy (numbness) in my fingertips as I did before, and perhaps some fatigue, but that should be it.  I'm also being tapered off the immunosuppressant really quickly and am now totally off the steroid in order to allow the graft-vs-lymphoma effect to work to its fullest.

Life goes on.....

What We've Been Up To.....

Open House at Fire Station 34!

Visiting Nanny and Grandy's train park in AZ

Checking out Grandy's Mini Cooper.  "Why are there no doors back here?!"

Before....

After!

Like a fish in water....

Nicholas had an olympic moment in the pool today!  Check out our little fishy....

(he also had an olympic moment on the potty a couple days ago but I'll refrain from posting those pictures) 

Day +365

One year ago today, October 10th, I got my new immune system!  It's my 1st second birthday :)

Que Pasa, Calabasa?

NicStats

Nicholas had his 2 year old doctor's visit on Friday.  He is:
32 lbs (95%)
37 in (98%)

Not happy from the get-go......

Said "no" approximately 432 times during the 10 minute appointment....

Getting a pep talk from Cristina on all the things the doctor will look at.....

On a separate note, I received an email on Friday from a woman named Heather Von St. James.  Her daughter was 3 1/2 months old when she was diagnosed with Mesothelioma, a disease caused by asbestos exposure, which she was unknowingly exposed to as a child.  In honor of national Mesothelioma day last week, and as an inspiration to others, I've posted a link to her story here!